Second illustration for upcoming chapter, and is probably one of the darkest (theme-wise) I've drawn in the series. While I've drawn things like Fluttershy's nightmares and bleak landscapes in Survivor Shy, none of those match up to the undertones I've aimed for here.

This is a little colt's surprise birthday party that never happened.

It's funny really, ever since I set my boundaries on what kind of story I want to tell in this series, I've wanted to draw something that could be considered disturbing without gore or other staples of cheap horror. After nearly one and a half years, I've done something I believe achieves that.

Since I don't have a FIMfiction account I'll put this here...Have read and re-read this story, and the scene with Bubble in particular about a dozen times now...still want to cry when I do. Also, still want to somehow make my way to Equestria so I can help Bubble. I'd adopt him and care for him and he'd never be lonely again...so wish Fluttershy had found a way to sneak him into her quest...poor Flutters, all alone and hurting...Also, now I wish I had sowing talents so I can make my own plushie Survivor Shy and Bubble and keep them together forever. And snuggle with them at night...take the nightmares away...excuse me

I have plans for Bubble, but I've been largely occupied in the past year to the point that I've had to put the fic on hiatus. I won't say when I'll be back on the fic, but I will say I have every intention of continuing the story.

Just so long as it'll get done...I'm not gonna complain. Much. Looking forward to the effects spoken of in the snippet attached the the pic with Flutters and the Elements though, and please give that poor adorable hamster a happy ending? Please?

As much as I hate good characters dying...death is final. I hate more that characters are sad or lonely or whatever...becuase I want to just go into the story and make it all better. That Bubble is ALSO an adorable little hamster...

Pretty much why I don't consider death to be the worst thing: it is final and it ends everything the character feels and goes through (unless we start playing with the rules of death and the afterlife, but that just muddies the water in this case).Of course, it can cut both ways when a character dies. A character that has gone through a lot of stuggles and has reached a point where they are at greater peace with themselves can die suddenly yet have readers feel that they had a good run. On the other hoof, a character that dies before they can even take a step into the story is either a redshirt character that nobody is meant to care about, or is a tragic character that dies before they could earn their peace, or - at worst - is a character whose development seems to have been all for nought.

Though I have no intentions of writing death scenes, I have looked into them just to understand what can be done with them, and what could go wrong if it's written poorly.

It's a loose representation of her vitality and mood. I started drawing it in because I was a little fascinated by how people draw hearts and butterflies in place of highlights in eyes, but I didn't want to do something like that in Survivor Shy because it would be too distracting. So what I did was replace the usual circular highlights with something else that would help make my art feel more like my own. I settled on the heartbeat lines because they are not too distracting from the rest of the expression, and because they can change very easily to match not only the mood of a piece, but the mood of the character. I plan to explore the idea in future pieces, ranging from excited or frightened to sleepy or listless. I will not deny I want to draw a 'flatline' to enhance a depressed or soulless look - which some artists depict by removing or reducing the presence of highlights in eyes.

That's the gist of it, yes. Fluttershy survives a devastating shock wave that causes all the other ponies to vanish without a trace. After that, Fluttershy finds herself struggling to survive while everything gets worse and worse by the day. Diamond Dogs start looting, Dragons invade, and the weather and celestial bodies begin to veer dangerously out of control. The story goes from there and follows Fluttershy on her journey.